Uprising (Alternate Earth Series, Book 2) (10 page)

Nina walks over to us and bends down to pick Ava up.

“But Rafe can help Ava and your Lucifer,” Nina tells me. “That much we can control.”

After Mason picks Lucifer up, I feel him place his hand on my back. Just before he phases us away, I look over at Dillon’s abandoned wings. It seems disrespectful to just leave them lying there, but we have other, more pressing, matters to attend to first.

We need to know whether or not Lucifer can release the souls of the infected from their decaying corpses. I promised Leah’s mother I would help her in any way I could, and Lucifer is my best hope to do that.

I pray that he can help us, and I cross my fingers that the price for his help won’t be something that I’m unwilling to pay.

CHAPTER NINE

Mason phases us to the basement in the castle where Wayne set up our graviton cage. I assume Nina phases Ava somewhere less stark, where she can recover from her torture in comfort. When we enter the large, metal box that is Lucifer’s cell, I notice Gabriel’s body lying against the right wall of the outer chamber. I’d almost forgotten he was in there. I remember being told that he was being kept down here, but I hadn’t thought too much about him after that. I redirect my attention to the security panel located on the left wall.

“Please state your name,” the computer says in a soft, feminine voice.

“Jessica Michelle Riley,” I reply.

A blue light scans my head, and I watch as the three blue lines, representing a readout of my retinas, brainwave activity, and voice, fluctuate on the screen.

“Thank you, Jessica.”

As soon as the door to the cell unlocks, Mason swings it open and carries Lucifer inside, dumping him onto the cot that was set up for his stay. Mason promptly walks out of the cell and shuts the door behind him.

“I need a shower,” Mason declares, sounding disgusted by his unavoidable physical contact with a naked Lucifer, and wanting to wash away all evidence of it immediately. “Care to join me?”

“I would love nothing more, but,” I say, looking over at Lucifer’s still form, “I feel like I should stay until Rafe comes. After Rafe heals Ava, I’m sure Nina will bring him down here for Lucifer.”

Mason sighs. I know that sigh. I’ve heard it a hundred times before, whenever Lucifer ends up being the main topic of our conversation. I wish my husband could understand my feelings for Lucifer, but, hell, who am I kidding? I don’t even understand them myself. It’s…complicated, and unlike any other relationship I’ve ever had in my life. Do I love him? Do I hate him? Honestly, I think it falls somewhere between those two very disparate emotions.

“Then I’ll make my shower quick,” Mason promises, leaning over and giving me a quick kiss on the lips. “Be right back.”

After Mason phases, Michael appears to me in a physical form only I can see. I know he’s just a projection that my mind has conjured up to represent him, but having him with me in such a way, in this moment, brings me some much-needed comfort.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him in this much distress,” Michael says as he looks over at Lucifer. Since he’s a non-corporeal being, Michael passes through the black bars of Lucifer’s cell and walks across the floor to stand beside the cot on which his one-time best friend is laying.

Michael is even worse than I am at hiding emotions. As I watch him, I can see and feel the concern he has for Lucifer. They may have been on opposite sides of the war in Heaven, but that didn’t stop Michael from continuing to love his friend. There is still a small spark of hope inside my Archangel’s soul that Lucifer will someday find his way back to God and ask for His forgiveness. Though, with each passing year, the light of that hope seems to dim just a little bit more.

“I wish I could just give up on him,” Michael says, knowing where my thoughts have wandered. “But I just can’t, Jess. Whenever he’s with us, and I see how much he cares about you, it gives me hope that maybe he’s beginning to understand why God asked us to bow down to humanity.”

“He confuses me,” I admit.

Michael lets out a small laugh. “He has that effect on people. Even knowing all the bad things he’s done in his life, I can’t seem to make myself write him off.”

“Sometimes being a hopeless optimist can be a real bitch.”

Michael looks over at me and busts out in a laugh. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

“I don’t understand one thing, though,” I say.

“What’s that?”

“Why didn’t he just separate his soul from his body when they started torturing him?”

“I’m not sure,” Michael says, considering my question. “If I correctly understand the principle of this type of cage, his soul still would have been trapped in that place. Maybe he thought the effort wasn’t worth it. Or maybe he had other reasons.”

“Are you talking to Michael again?” I hear Lucifer ask weakly, letting me know he’s awake and listening. He doesn’t sound as weak as before. Maybe the drugs in his system are slowly wearing off.

“Yes,” I tell him, unable to see his face from my side of the bars.

“And how did he answer your last question?”

“He said your soul wouldn’t have been able to leave the room we found you in, and that you might have had other reasons for staying.”

“He was always very perceptive about my motivations.”

“Why didn’t you try to escape from them, Lucifer?”

“They had answers that I needed.”

I walk over to the bars of the cell and wrap my fingers around two of them as I stare at Lucifer.

“Answers to what?” I ask, wondering now who the true interrogator in that room had been.

“I wanted to know exactly what it was they were planning to do to this world,” Lucifer says, sounding drowsy again, like he’s about to fall back to sleep.

“What did you learn?” I ask urgently.

Lucifer chuckles. “Wouldn’t you like to know…?”

I see his head loll to the side, indicating that he’s fallen back to sleep.

I let out a small growl of frustration.

“Why does he have to be so insufferable?” I ask Michael.

“It’s just his way,” Michael replies. “However, now you know he learned some things during his time with Lucian and the others.”

“You know he won’t tell me what he knows unless it benefits him somehow.”

“That is also his way,” Michael acknowledges.

The door to the metal box opens, and Malcolm steps inside.

“I just came down to make sure you weren’t having any problems with him,” Malcolm says, looking into the cell where Lucifer is laying. “Has he woken up yet?”

“For a moment, but he seems to be asleep again.”

Malcolm holds out his right hand to me. “Give me the sedative Brand gave you. I don’t want Rafe going in there unless we’re sure Lucifer’s completely out.”

I pull the silver cylinder from my belt and hand it to Malcolm. I go through the security scan again to open the cell door so he can go inside to administer the shot.

I watch Malcolm kneel down beside the cot and remove the cap of the cylinder. Michael vanishes from my sight, since I’m no longer alone.

“It’s about time,” Lucifer says, still sounding drugged as his head slowly moves on his pillow in order to look at Malcolm. “I was wondering how long it would take before I saw you kneel down before me.”

Without any warning, Malcolm stabs the needle into Lucifer’s chest.

“I will never truly kneel to you,” Malcolm promises Lucifer with conviction.

“We’ll see…” Lucifer replies, before fading into what I hope is a deep sleep.

Malcolm considers Lucifer for a moment before standing and walking out of the cell.

“Rafe is almost through healing Ava,” Malcolm tells me. “I’ll bring him down here when he’s ready.”

Before Malcolm can phase away, I grab his arm. “Wait.”

Malcolm looks at me questioningly.

“What happened to Ava’s husband?” I say, remembering how he joined our fight in the end to help us escape.

Malcolm shakes his head slowly. “He didn’t make it. Mammon showed up and killed him.”

“Why did he help us?”

Malcolm shrugs. “I don’t know the real reason, but, if I were to guess, I think he realized how much he loved Ava. It was only after he saw her in Peyton’s arms that he fought to help get her out.”

“But he’s the one who set her up in the first place,” I say, remembering the scene at the Dome of the Rock. From what was said, it appeared that Micah purposely let Ava hear Gabriel say where they were going for their secret meeting, to prove that she was the one leaking information to the resistance.

“Maybe he ended up regretting doing that to her,” Malcolm suggests. “Whatever the reason, he sacrificed himself for her in the end. You only do that for someone you love.”

“Is Mia here?” I ask.

“Yes. She’s staying with Abby and Tristan, in their cage, while she’s transformed. I’ll take her to be with Ava first thing in the morning.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing Ava’s daughter is somewhere safe.

Mason walks into the box. His hair is still wet from his shower, and he’s dressed simply in a white t-shirt and jeans.

“I’ll be back with Rafe,” Malcolm tells us.

While we wait, I tell Mason what Lucifer said.

“He might have learned something, or he might just want you to think that he did,” Mason says. “I can’t say for sure until I hear him myself, but your instincts are usually close to mine. What do you think?”

“I think he got the information he wanted from them,” I say, “but I don’t think he’ll share that knowledge with us, unless it benefits him in some way.”

“Agreed,” Mason says. “Don’t give him anything, Jess. Odds are he’ll want something from you.”

“I don’t know what I have that he would want, or that I would be willing to trade,” I say.

“There’s no telling with him,” Mason says, unable to keep his contempt for Lucifer out of his voice.

A few minutes later, Malcolm walks back into the box, with Rafe and Nina. After I open the door, all of us go into the cell to make sure Lucifer doesn’t do anything to Rafe while he’s in there.

“What a mess,” Rafe says, examining Lucifer’s injuries.

“Why don’t we just leave him to heal on his own?” Malcolm suggests, obviously having very little pity for Lucifer in his current condition.

“You know we need him,” I say. “And someone we care about needs his help.”

Only Mason knows I’m referring to Leah’s mother. The others just look at me questioningly, waiting for me to explain myself. I tell them about Xiulan.

“Poor Leah,” Rafe says, looking distressed. “Does she know?”

I shake my head. “No, and please don’t say anything to her about it. Xiulan should be given the opportunity to tell her…and to say goodbye.”

“Maybe it would have been better if Leah had never found her mother here,” Nina says.

“No,” I say. “I think Leah needed to spend this time with her mom. Otherwise, she would have gone through her life always wondering what happened to her, and not knowing why she left her with Remy. Losing Xiulan will be difficult, probably one of hardest things she’ll ever experience, but knowing that her mother truly does love her is something she’ll have for the rest of her life.”

“We’ll be there for her,” Mason says, placing a comforting arm around my shoulders. “She’ll have us to lean on.”

As we all stand and watch Rafe use his gift of healing and Moses’ staff to mend Lucifer’s wounds, I can’t help but tear up, because I know this puts us one step closer to helping Xiulan escape the rotting corpse she’s living inside. I hope we can find a way to help her before she loses herself to the pain, like so many others around the world have. I haven’t watched the news for almost a week, and I’m afraid to ask how bad things have gotten. No one has bothered to mention it, and I’ve had more pressing matters on my mind.

Now that the carriers of the fourth seal’s trial have been dealt with, I have to wonder why the princes haven’t broken the fifth seal yet. What are they waiting for? In fact, why didn’t they simply unleash all of the seals at one time? What is the purpose of waiting months, sometimes years, to open the next seal?

I’m hoping Lucifer can answer those questions for me. Even if he can, I’m certain he won’t do it out of the goodness of his heart, if there is any goodness left.

My thoughts travel back to the first night we arrived here. Lucifer could have easily let Lucian and the others take me, possibly even kill me, but he didn’t. Instead, he acted as my protector and helped me escape. If there wasn’t some good left in him, I don’t believe he would have done that. I had to keep my faith that buried deep down inside him was a kernel of good that could be nurtured to grow. Perhaps, with just a little bit of kindness, I can help him become a better person.

After Rafe finishes healing Lucifer’s body, Nina drapes a black blanket over his naked form.

“After the drugs wear off,” Rafe says, “he should be fine.”

“How long do you think it will take for the drugs to break down in his system?” I ask.

“I would say not very long,” Rafe answers. “After he wakes up, he should be back to normal.”

“Which isn’t necessarily a good thing,” Malcolm quips.

“How is Ava?” I ask Nina as we all make our way out of the cell, since there’s nothing else we can do until Lucifer awakens.

“Physically, she’s fine, but Brand was getting ready to tell her about Micah when we left to come down here. To be honest, I didn’t even realize Micah loved her that much,” Nina says, sounding surprised by Micah’s sacrifice.

“I guess you never know what someone is truly feeling until they’re forced to face it themselves,” I tell her.

“Maybe,” Nina reluctantly agrees, briefly glancing in Rafe’s direction.

“Nina,” I say, instantly thinking up an excuse to get her alone, “do you think you could take me to the graveyard in Lakewood? I would like to see if Tara has left us anything.”